Sand quarrying on despite banBooking mafia not easy as politicians, religious heads backing them, say copsLudhiana, August 4
Despite ban on sand quarrying by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the mining from the Sutlej bed continues unabated, as the mafia is busy making a quick buck.
As the shortage of sand, owing to the ban on its mining, has held up numerous construction projects, the owners are
willing to shell out any amount to buy it, with the mafia clearly making hay.

Illegal sand quarrying going on near the Sutlej at Razapur village in Ludhiana on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Labourers threaten scribes
Ludhiana, August 4
The Tribune team that went to click pictures of sand quarrying had a narrow escape after labourers hired for the illegal sand mining work tried to attack them at a site in Razapur village late last night.

Well-connected councillors make hay
Cleanliness suffers due to uneven ratio of sanitary workersLudhiana, August 4
Despite more than 1,200 regular sweepers, 3,000 mohalla sanitation workers and 200 newly appointed sanitation employees (contractual basis); the Municipal Corporation has failed to keep the city clean.

Taxi driver set afire
He was dragged into fields, hit by blunt weaponMandi Ahmedgarh, August 4
In a shocking incident a resident of Amarpura, who plies taxi, was brutally killed by unknown assailants after setting him afire. He was subsequently dragged into the fields situated on the outskirts of Kalakh village near here last night.

Sexual harassment caseBrar accuses PAU of forging documents
Ludhiana, August 4
The “infamous” case of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) wherein a woman employee of the varsity had alleged Dr DS
Brar, Director Student Welfare (DSW), in 2008 of sexual harassment has taken a new turn.

Ingenious kin outsmart cops
Ludhiana, August 4
If you think onion, capsicum, potato chips and fruits are used for eating think again as a few ingenious relatives and friends of inmates are using these commodities for smuggling drugs inside the jails.
In the past fortnight alone, seven such incidents have been reported. In all these cases relatives of prisoners lodged in Ludhiana Central Jail were nabbed while trying to sneak drugs inside the jails by hiding them in veggies.
Not only drugs, clever relatives have even been sneaking mobile phones and other electronic items by hiding it in dishes such as chicken curry.

Pvt schools act smart, fleece parents
Ludhiana, August 4
Private schools in the city have found yet another way to fleece parents in the name of education- through smart classes.
The concept, which has recently been introduced in numerous city schools, has
become a source of mass resentment among parents, who feel that smart classes are just a way to mint money for schools.A smart class in progress. A Tribune photograph

Road repair on Gurthali bridge eyewash
Doraha, August 4
The sorry state of the road leading to Gurthali bridge has become an eyesore for all. The Tribune had highlighted the plight of commuters taking to this potholed road in these columns often with the authorities going to the extent of initiating the road repair work, which the commuters claim to be nothing more than eyewash.The potholed road on the Gurthali bridge.
A Tribune photograph

Pak national, two others convicted of spying
Ludhiana, August 4
A local court has sentenced a Pakistani national, Abdul Hanan Rashid, to three-year imprisonment for spying and violating the Foreigners Act.
In addition to forging documents to pass himself off as an Indian national,
the Pakistani spy had been collecting and transmitting secret information relating to Army establishments.

Stray Animal MenaceUnhappy, MC asks Doggy Lane to speed up work
Ludhiana, August 4
Unhappy with the slow pace of work being done by Doggy Lane Company that has been given responsibility to sterile stray dogs within the city limits, Municipal Corporation functionaries held a meeting with company representatives to speed-up the work.

Tightening noose around absentee teachers
State education department to introduce biometric system of marking attendance in 100 government schoolsMandi Ahmedgarh, August 4
Government schoolteachers who have been pocketing salaries without attending schools will have mend their ways as the Punjab Education Department has announced to introduce a biometric system to monitor their attendance.

Raids on Ayurvedic CollegesAnxious students make calls to clear the air
Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 4
Panicked over the reports of “raids” by joint teams of the CBI and the Central Council of Indian Medicine
(CCIM) on ayurvedic colleges of the state, students of almost all the ayurvedic colleges and their parents have making frantic calls to the authorities concerned to clear the air over the validity of their respective institutes.

Revised pay scalesTeachers’ body threatens stir
Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 4
Accusing officials at the Directorate of Public Instructions (Colleges), Chandigarh, of harassing college teachers by deliberately delaying the implementation of the revised pay scales, activists of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Association
(PCCTA) have threatened to launch a state-wide agitation to get their demands implemented.

No takers for GLADA plots in Dugri Urban Estate
Ludhiana, August 4
While the land in the posh Dugri Urban Estate locality comes at a hefty premium, it must have been the disadvantage of location that came in the way of the sale of 20 residential plots put up for sale by the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority
(GLADA) here yesterday.

To launch project for widening of Ferozepur RoadLudhiana, August 4
With the assembly elections in Punjab barely one-and-a-half-year away, the ruling coalition seems to have gone in an overdrive to woo voters through spate of development projects.

Final touches being given to a site where Sukhbir Badal will lay the foundation stone for
eight-laning of the Ferozepur road. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Cong ridicules govt’s newfound love for Buddha Nullah
Ludhiana, August 4
Several sitting and former Congress MLAs and party leaders from the city have ridiculed the newfound love of the Punjab government for the highly polluted Buddha Nullah only after the local MP Manish Tewari got Rs 50 crore sanctioned from the Centre for its cleaning.

Govt boost needed to revive listless MC
Bassi Pathana, August 4
With monsoon unleashing its fury, the normal life of local residents has been thrown out of gear as rainwater has been entering their houses due to the absence of a drainage system.

Residents block traffic
Samrala, August 4
Residents of Sandhun village staged a dharna and blocked traffic in front of the Samrala police station against police failure to trace a youth who went missing four days back.

Dress kids’ room with themes
Ludhiana, August 4
Decorating kids’ room is easy when a child’s passion is made part of the room. Decorating a room, using an age-appropriate theme and favourite
colours, is a way to create a memorable space for the child.

Man found dead on railway tracks
Ludhiana, August 4
Panic spread in Model Gram area of the city after passengers spotted a mutilated body of a middle-aged man on railway tracks.
The incident came to light in the wee hours of today when passengers waiting for a train at the Model Gram railway station spotted the body and raised an alarm.

Ludhiana, August 4
Hosts Darshan Academy students bagged titles in the boy's U-14 and girls U-16 categories, while Gobindgarh Public School romped home victorious in the boys U-16, U-19 and girls U-14 and U-16 categories to stamp their superiority in the second edition of the Ludhiana Sahodaya East Table Tennis Tournament which concluded here today.

The winners of the Ludhiana Sahodya East Table Tennis Tournament.
A Tribune photograph

Death of basketball player mourned
Ludhiana, August 4
A condolence meeting was held here today at Guru Nanak Stadium to mourn the death of international cager Shiv Kumar (25), who died at Dehradun yesterday.

Tae kwon doGreen Land students excel
Ludhiana, August 4
Students of Green Land Convent School, Chandigarh road branch, proved their mettle to finish among position holders in the International Tae kwon do championship held in Bhutan, recently.

Swimming trials on Aug 8
Ludhiana, August 4
Trials to select the Punjab swimming teams (men and women) besides provisional water polo team for men will be held at the War Heroes Swimming Pool,
Sangrur, on August 8 from 9 am onwards.